Police Scotland announce new restructure details

Published:06:58Wednesday 21 January 2015

Police Scotland has announced details of the restructure of the territorial command areas within Tayside Division and the introduction of a new shift pattern for frontline uniformed officers in order to strengthen local policing throughout the Tayside area.

The changes to the current shift pattern for officers will mean more resources are available for local community policing and will ensure that the optimum numbers of officers are on duty at the right time, as well as improving the work-life balance for police officers.

Additionally, details of plans to merge the four command areas within Tayside Division of Dundee North, Dundee South, Angus and Perth and Kinross into three command areas has also been provided. The three command areas will be Dundee City, Angus and Perth and Kinross.

This change follows a review into the effectiveness of having two command areas within the city of Dundee. Having a single area of command will mean that operational policing and management will be more efficient.

Currently, the four command areas each headed by a Chief Inspector. With the move to three command areas there will still be four Chief Inspectors leading policing in their local areas; one in charge of the Angus area, one in charge of the Perth and Kinross area and Dundee City will continue to have two Chief Inspectors; one who is in charge of the day to day operational policing and one who is in charge of overseeing partnership working, community engagement and community safety issues.

Chief Inspector Gordon Milne will be the Area Commander for Angus.

The restructure and shift pattern change will provide a greater number of available front line officers at the times of peak demand and a larger proportion of frontline uniformed officers will now be within Community Policing Teams. The Community Policing Teams are aligned to ward areas and will consist of a Sergeant and Constables. Officers in Community Policing Teams will continue to respond to more routine calls and incidents that relate to on-going issues in local communities and will be supported by response officers who will attend more urgent calls for service. Community Policing Teams will work closely with our partners to tackle arising issues and problems in particular areas.

Chief Superintendent of Tayside Division, Eddie Smith said: “Local policing is at the heart of what we do and these proposals aim to strengthen our ties to our communities and improve our service delivery to the public that we serve.

“There will not be and has not been a reduction in the number of officers within the division as a result of these changes. These changes are about ensuring we have officers in the right place at the right time to keep people safe.

“Police Scotland continues to evolve as a policing service and we will review opportunities that will help us strengthen our community ties whilst delivering a service that is effective, sustainable and cost-effective.”

Chief Superintendent Smith continued: “In the following weeks, we will ensure our partners; local elected members and communities are made fully aware of who the community policing officers are for their area and how to contact them.”